CALL FOR PROPOSALS

Women Interrogating Trade & Corporate Hegemony –

Trade and Economic Justice from Ground up

Amplifying Voices, Documenting Evidence, Strengthening Women’s Movements, Organising and Solidarity for Trade and Economic Justice. 

 

APWLD invites grassroots women rights organisations and movements to take part in this exciting Feminist Participatory Action Research on Women Interrogating Trade & Corporate Hegemony that aims to develop capacity, tools and resources by women movements and strengthen women’s movements to demand their rights and justice against neoliberal trade and investment regimes that empowers corporations at the expense of the peoples and the planet. 

 

Focus area for the research

For the WITCH FPAR programme 2023-2024, six to eight organisations in Asia and the Pacific will work together with the community to conduct FPAR and document evidence approximately from August 2023 – November 2024 to focus their FPAR on:

1. The impact of trade and investment regimes and corporate hegemony on women’s human rights at the local or country level, specifically in  these following streams: 

    1. Women Defending the Commons – includes the acquisition and privatisation of public services1 including water, healthcare, education, energy, social protection and essential services (public transport, roads, bridges, etc) by corporations and/or through trade agreements and its impact on women’s human rights and community access to basic goods and services;
    2. Women Defending Labour Rights and Challenging Corporate Power – includes direct and indirect impacts of corporates on people working in various sectors like public sectors (health, education, energy, etc), agriculture (farm workers, fisherfolks, plantations workers, etc), industries (garments workers, electronic workers, manufacturing workers, automobiles workers, shipping, etc). 

2. Community-owned initiatives include genuine and meaningful participation of women and communities in economic and trade rules decision making at all levels and demands for economic rights, people-centric trade models and systems and development justice.  

 

 

APWLD believes in the power of local feminist movements. 

APWLD believes that in order to challenge the current development model and to claim women’s human rights, a strong and autonomous feminist women’s movement is needed. It must extend to strengthening women’s capacity to exercise real power and control over their own lives and the terms on which they engage with social and economic structures – including over trade and investment regimes. They must be supported to build their capacity to document the impact of loss of seeds, decent work, local livelihoods and public commons such as water, health, energy, education; have meaningful engagement in decision making process of trade and other economic policies; able to form a strong local feminist movement that works with other movements to demand accountability from state and corporations, and able to push the government in tackling systemic barriers to women’s economic, development and democratic rights. To address the need to increase evidence-based advocacy and the need to have women as vocal and effective organisers, advocates and campaigners in human rights.

 

APWLD will provide eight organisations with a small sub-grant to employ a young woman researcher and carry out the research including salary and on-costs with the approximate amount of USD 12,000. Sub-grant partners will need to appoint a mentor to assist this young women researcher throughout this research programme. 

 

APWLD will also support the young women researcher and their mentors to participate in three regional trainings that will allow participants to conduct research programmes that relate to their constituencies’ needs, use findings for advocacy and build and strengthen movements. Through a combination of face-to-face and online modules, they will share the frameworks within their communities and learn practical research skills. By the end of 2024, sub-grant partners will have developed and commenced a community-based research plan.

 

 

Selection Criteria of the Research Partners

APWLD will select six to eight grassroots women’s rights organisations that will lead the WITCH FPAR in Asia-Pacific2. We are seeking non-governmental, non-profit, grassroots-based organisations that are:

  • Committed towards the enjoyment and realisation of the human rights of women and people in the face of neoliberal and unjust trade regimes and increasing corporate hegemony in our lives.
  • Committed to conducting the 15-month Feminist Participatory Action Research (FPAR) process.
  • Committed to using feminist participatory methodologies that increase democratic participation and leadership of marginalised women in the research.
  • Committed to appointing a young woman researcher and mentor, either a mentor or young women researcher should come from the community where the FPAR will be conducted.
  • Able to provide internet and computer access for regular online communication with the APWLD secretariat and online training

APWLD will consider the following when selecting partner organisations for this programme:

  • Sub-regional representation;
  • Recommendations/ references by APWLD members;
  • Issues and concerns represented in the research focus area. 

 

Application

Interested organisations shall submit:

  • Completed application form and budget proposal 
  • Expression of interest
  • Recommendation letter, preferably from an APWLD member

For more information on WITCH FPAR, you can download the Concept Note.

Applicants should complete the application and send it to Hien Nguyen at hien@apwld.org and Sanila Gurung at sanila@apwld.org or via this online form by 29 April 2023. 

(Please use the subject line: Application – WITCH FPAR 2023-2024_name of your organisation) when sending via email

 

Incomplete applications will not be considered. Please note that only selected applicants will be subsequently contacted.

For further questions, or if you need any help, please send an email to: Hien Nguyen at hien@apwld.org and Sanila Gurung at sanila@apwld.org who will be happy to support grassroots organisations to apply.

[1] For a full list of public services as functions of government sees the 1999 OECD’s COFOG Classification published by the UN Statistical Division and adopted by Eurostat as a standard classifying the purposes of government activities. Glossary: Classification of the functions of government (COFOG) – Statistics Explained (europa.eu). Retrieved from https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/statistics-explained/index.php?title=Glossary:Classification_of_the_functions_of_government_(COFOG)

[2] As one of the objectives of this programme is to support and strengthen grassroots organisations, this programme is not suitable for international NGOs and organisations with established funding support or who are already well organised and able to advocate for women rights on trade and corporate hegemony.